Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Snowe's Mixed Signals

In February, the political establishment here in Maine was rocked by
Sen. Olympia’s Snowe’s late and entirely surprising announcement that
she would not seek reelection.
The Senate, she said, had become a frustrating place, where “an
atmosphere of polarization and ‘my way or the highway’ ideologies has
become pervasive in campaigns and in our governing institutions.” Rather
than serve another term - her reelection was a given - she would “enter
a new chapter” in which she would “help give voice to my fellow
citizens who believe, as I do, that we must return to an era of civility
in government driven by a common purpose to fulfill the promise that is
unique to America.”

“I see a vital need for the political center in order for our
democracy to flourish and to find solutions that unite rather than
divide us,” she added, and later announced she would convert her
campaign committee into a PAC to support such centrist, post-partisan
change.
But here in Maine, where she is the perhaps most influential Republican, Snowe has not yet put her money where her mouth is.

As my story in today’s Portland Press Herald shows,
Snowe, her husband, and her campaign committee gave exclusively to
Republicans and in Maine’s state-level races this cycle, including
divisive and polarizing figures like Gov. Paul LePage,
with whom she shares a personal loyalty. Indeed, her staff say she gave
to candidates based on their loyalty to her during her abortive
reelection bid, and the pattern of her giving emphasizes party over
ideology, as when she appeared in television ads to unseat the most
avowedly centrist, non-partisan member of the state senate in favor of a
Republican challenger.

Sources expect her political donations will change character going
forward, now that her campaign committee has become Olympia’s List. Stay
tuned.